Film festival: Visions of the not-so-distant US future

THE Independent Television Service, which funds and produces public programming in the US, asked 11 film-makers to imagine the not-so-distant future in the US. The result is a series called Futurestates, from which three films are being shown at the Imagine Science Film Festival.

Seed (Hugo Perez, 10 min, US) takes place following massive famine and food riots. It is 2022 and the Mendelian Corporation controls the food supply by forcing farmers to use its genetically engineered seeds, murdering those who don't comply. In Silver Sling (Tze Chun, 11 min, US), a young Russian immigrant considers offering herself as a surrogate mother for the third time. The physically taxing "accelerated pregnancies" last three months.

Plastic Bag (Ramin Bahrani, 18 min, US), one of my favourites of the festival, tells the story of a grocery bag floating across the US, hoping to be re-united with its owner. Werner Herzog gives voice to the object, as it contemplates the horror of its own immortality.